Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine trainee teachers’ attitudes and opinions of democratic citizenship education. As a case study, it compared two popular routes of teacher education: the Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) at the University of Cambridge and Teach First. The study sought to examine the extent to which democratic citizenship education was a key component of the teachers’ philosophy of education. Furthermore, it asked where differences in opinion came from and how the different teacher training programmes impacted its trainees. The study suggests interesting findings regarding teacher education programmes’ purposes of education, the influence of school placements on trainee teachers, and trainee teachers’ views on democratic citizenship education.